MOTORS and MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 143, 13 March 1931, Page 6

MOTORS and MOTORING

By

“SPARE WHEEL”

: Tho content of crankcase is pumped through the oil filter 10 to 15. times an .hour? , ■ • » » *

' “One good turn deserves another,” as the skidding motorist remarked on striking another patch of bituminoussurfaced road.

When replacing valve cotters of the half-moon type difficulty Is sometimes found in keeping the halves of the cotters in their correct position while the valve springs are lowered. This can bei’ overcome by applying a little thick grease to the cotters, which will cause them to stick in their grooves.

When exposed exhaust pipes are lagged with asbestos string, the binding sometimes becomes untidy and is apt to disintegrate when affected by rain. A simple method of keeping it neat is to bind the asbestos string with thin Strip copper which can be obtained from wireless shops and is used for strip aerials. It is very pliable and can easily be handled and the ends can be bound with copper wire to prevent the strip uncoiling. *

Carbon monoxide is a deadly poisonous gas expelled from the exhaust with the other products of combustion. As it is. both odourless and colourless, a person is generally overcome before being aware of any danger. Therefore, when it is necessary to work on your car with the engine running, always do this in the open air, whenever possible. If it is necessary to work in a earage see that , the floors are open and thh exhaust'is discharging into the open air. • . ’ ' «

Owners of cars fitted with the Continental type of screw-down bonnet clip ■ sometimes find that after a few thousand miles the clips develop a .very annoying habit of coming undone. If a > thin band of < rubber be cut from. an old tube, for example, and put through the clip on the inside of the bonnet, passed underneath the bonnet and around the outside portion of the cup, rattle is prevented should the clip come undone,., as. by this _ means the bonnet is still held firmly in position. If the job is carried out neatly it is unobtrusive and does not interfere wit the ready opening of the bonnet. UNIVERSAL JOINTS ; Lubrication and Care ; ■ Universal joints are either ,of the fabric br metallic type, and. their purnose is to accommodate the out or afignment of . the driving shaft due to oscillation of the back axle when passing over rough roads, etc. . ■ , • With the fabric. type, no .lubrication or attention is required other than an “occasional inspection to see that all the Holts are tight; but the metallic ■ type must be lubricated, otherwise un- ‘ flue “wear will take place and the rattle MH become a source of annoyance. Cars fitted with torque tubes, usually have the metallic type of universal joints just at the rear of the gear-box, and in this position they generally obtain adequate lubrication from the gear-bbxbut where provision is made 'by the makers for a supplementary supply of lubricant, it is advisable to apply the grease gun about every 1000 to 2000 miles. Those cars not fitted with torque tubes often have one fabric type universal joint at the front end of the drive shaft and a metallic type at the rear, or a metallic type at each. end. With these, it is of utmost importance to lubricate the metallic universal joints at regular periods, and in accordance with instructions supplied by the makers. A good transmission oil sltbuld be used for this purpose, or, if the joints are inclined to leak, a compound groase will be suitable. CARS IMPROVING Standard Always Set Higher ’ -’‘l ' ' ' • '• ' ..' While motorists! appreciate the fact that nothing like finality has been reached in motor design and construction, those who drive the latest model cars soon realise that such great progress has been made in the industry that every new improvement is more difficult to attain than those in earlier years, when the automobile was a mass Of obvious imperfections, which cried out for removal/ - The struggle for improvement grows keener, th® standard of perfection is set ever higher. But there is aliVays a chance for a , man of genius and courage to carry things a long step forward; and all the time in a vast number of details there goes on a ceaseless effort' to improve them. Cars are getting better and better, and this progress will continue to go on as long as the public appreciate work of this kind. The keen motorist is the salvation of the motor Industry, and is always ready to welcome a better car.

Au oil-soaked fan belt can be cleaned with' kerosene and then treated with castor oil. In an emergency, some fuller’s earth can be sprinkled on the leather or fabric.

THE NAME “DIESEL” Limitation Suggested Wo have been searching our memories for a parallel to the use of “Diesel” as a generic ■ name for injection oil engines, and have failed, states “The Engineer,” England. No one speaks of a condensing engine as a “Watt,” or a high-pressure engine as a “Trevithick”; we do not describe the locomotive as a “Stephenson,” every steam turbine as a “Parsons,” or the selfinductive dynamo as a “Wilde.” Why, then, should every internal-combustion engine which , happens to compress clean air instead of a charge be called a “Diesel”? • Some true Diesel engines are built to-day. They retain the characteristics of the original design, particularly the injection of the charge by a blast of air compressed by the engine itself. But the type Is going out, and by far the greater number: of heavy-oil engines now employ pump injection and dispense with the separate compressor which was a feature of Dr. Diesel’s design. The majority of them, in fact, have no resemblance to that engine save the compression of pure air, which was Invented and used by Ackroyd-Stuart before Dr. Diesel’s time. It is true that Dr. Diesel claimed also the high temperature of compression as a means of igniting the charge, but since earlier engines emploved automatic or surface ignition with which the timing of the explosion depended , upon the compression, the same principle was virtually in use before Diesel adopted it As. a matter of fact,, it was the engine itself, rather than the part cycle, which made the inventor’s reputation. :• “

We, suggest that it would be a real convenience if the word “Diesel” were retained for those engines, and those alone, using air-blast fuel admission, and that when other means of injection’are employed they should be described in some appropriate way—solid injection, airless, injection, eta—but without the use of the word Diesel.— “The-Engineer” (England).

ENGINE: INEFFICIENCY The Part of the Muffler The muffler deserves careful consideration every once In a while, if the operator cares much for efficiency and economical operation. The exhaust silencer often has a great number of very small openings op the inside of the chamber which become clogged with soot and carbon from the cylinders. The deposit collects very rapidly, especially when the grade of the oil is poor or too much oil is used. It also results when the carburetor is adjusted to give.too.rich a mixture. When these small openings become clogged the exhaust gas cannot escape rapidly and naturally the cylinder of the engine is not clean at the exhaust stroke. As a result, it is impossible to bring in a full, cylinder of new gas on the next Intake stroke. There is not a full charge to explode and this means a loss of . power to the engine.

And of course there is the uneducated auto manufacturer who thought that Little Red Riding Hood was an accessory.